It’s not every day that a film kicks off with two megastars disrobing—both emotionally and literally—but Die, My Love is far from your average movie. Directed by the fiercely audacious Lynne Ramsay, this horror-comedy adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s 2017 novel has critics raving and audiences at Cannes on their feet for a whopping nine minutes. And at the heart of the frenzy? Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, diving headfirst into madness, grief, and, yes, naked tiger-fighting.
From “Hi, Nice to Meet You” to “You Will Do It Naked?”
When Jennifer Lawrence signed on to play Grace—a mother spiraling into psychosis as her marriage crumbles in a forgotten rural landscape—she knew the role would demand vulnerability. But even she didn’t expect just how literally that would play out on day one.
In a Cannes promotional interview, Lawrence recounted the eye-opening moment she and Pattinson were introduced to Ramsay’s vision.
“The day before our first day, Lynne showed Rob and I a scene from If… And it was these actors, and they were attacking each other like tigers,” Lawrence told Variety. “We were like, ‘Okay, yeah.’ And she was like, ‘You will do it naked, yeah?’ And we were like, ‘Oh…okay…’ And then that was the first day on set.”
No rehearsals. No gentle ease-in. Just two of Hollywood’s biggest names clawing at each other—nude—in the name of art.
A Stripped-Down Trust: Why It Worked
Here’s where the story takes a turn from awkward to oddly wholesome. You’d expect some secondhand embarrassment or at least a few chuckles when two A-listers drop their clothes on Day One, but Lawrence and Pattinson described the moment as surprisingly… smooth.
“There was instant trust,” Lawrence noted during an interview with Brut America. “It can be really uncomfortable, but with Rob, it just wasn’t.”
That comfort didn’t appear out of thin air. Ramsay, a director who thrives on pushing emotional and cinematic boundaries, made sure the duo had built rapport through dance classes before filming began. Those bonding sessions weren’t just for show—they became a secret weapon in building the chemistry necessary for such a raw, emotionally-charged performance.
Pattinson chimed in with his trademark dry wit:
“You think you can’t get more embarrassed, and then they’re like, ‘Now do it naked!’”
Their mutual understanding turned what could’ve been a nightmare scenario into a foundation for one of the year’s most compelling cinematic relationships. And in a film that explores the edges of sanity and the surreal, that connection shines through.
The Madness Behind the Method
Die, My Love follows Grace as she slowly unravels in isolation, her internal world colliding with reality in jarring, often surreal ways. It’s a story soaked in emotional horror, delivered with Ramsay’s sharp tonal palette—part drama, part absurdist comedy, all uncomfortably human.
Lawrence’s portrayal of a woman slipping into psychosis is being hailed as her boldest work since Silver Linings Playbook. Some critics are even whispering about Oscar potential—a testament to her ability to embody fragility and ferocity in equal measure. Meanwhile, Pattinson matches her beat for beat, shedding the shadow of Twilight with yet another performance that’s deeply eccentric and quietly devastating.
And let’s not forget the visual fingerprint of Ramsay, whose past work (We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ratcatcher) already cements her as a master of emotional unease. With Die, My Love, she’s dialed the discomfort to 11, delivering what may be her most audacious film yet.
No Regrets, Just Applause
The daring first-day scene may have been unorthodox, but Lawrence and Pattinson both stand by the choice. In fact, they believe starting with such an exposed moment helped their working relationship flourish. After all, as Pattinson joked, “It would’ve been way more awkward if we hated each other.”
Of course, none of this boundary-pushing would have been possible without careful planning. Lawrence acknowledged the importance of having an intimacy coordinator on set: